European Social Fund

The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is Europe’s main instrument for investing in people. The ESF+ will continue to provide an important contribution to the EU’s employment, social, education and skills policies, including structural reforms in these areas. The Fund will also be one of the cornerstones of EU socio-economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has reversed gains in labour participation, challenged educational and health systems and increased inequalities. ESF+ will be one of the key EU instrument helping Member States to address these challenges.

 Priority will be given to:

• Supporting young people to find a qualification, a good quality job, and improve their education and training

• Helping children in need

• Reskilling and upskilling people for the transition to a green and digital economy

• Capacity building for social partners and civil society organisations

• Transnational cooperation for promoting social innovation across the EU

• Direct support to social innovation through the Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) strand

The ESF+ brings together four funding instruments that were separate in the programming period 2014-2020: The European Social Fund (ESF), the Fund for European Aid to the most Deprived (FEAD) the Youth Employment Initiative and the European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI).